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My head whipped in the direction of my boss’s office, and through the glass walls that separated mine from his, I saw he was already looking in my direction, a shit-eating grin on his face as he threw me a salute.
That son of a bitch.
I knew we’d had a touching moment and all, so it really was a shame I was now going to have to burn this building down with him inside.
ChapterFifteen
WYNN
My tires skiddedinto Gage’s drive, spitting gravel in their wake as I came to a grinding stop in front of his house. I was in such a panicked rush I barely remembered to throw the damn thing into park and kill the ignition. And Ididforget to undo my seatbelt, nearly choking myself when I attempted to leap from the car.
“Mother fu—” I grumbled as I fought with the stubborn harness. In its attempt to keep me safe, it had locked up completely. I finally got it unlatched and vaulted out of the car. I practically ran up Gage’s walkway and barreled through the front door like the hounds of hell were nipping at my heels.
“Gage!” I shouted, out of breath from sprinting in four-inch heels. Damn me and my complete disdain for cardio. I slipped on the sleek tile and nearly took a header into his entryway table before wising up and kicking my heels off. “Gage, we have a serious problem!”
Gage came rushing down the hallway, totally bare-chested and still pulling a pair of sweats into place. His eyes were wide with panic, darting all around like he was trying to find the potential danger. “Jesus Christ.” He jerked to a stop right in front of me, hands grabbing me by the arms as he tried to assess where any potential damage might be. “Are you okay? What the fuck happened? Are you hurt?”
I brushed his roaming hands away. “What? No. No, I’m not hurt.”
He stood tall, his brows winging high on his forehead as he threw his arms wide, causing his biceps to flex. I was momentarily caught off guard by all that tanned, smooth skin stretched across chiseled, sexy abs. That defined V at his hips dipped into the waistband of his sweats—black this time, thank God—pointing like an arrow to what lay beneath. Teasing me.
Gage cleared his throat, yanking me from my ogling.Damn it. “What the fuck, Bits?” he snapped indignantly. “You come running in here like you’re in fear for your goddamn life, scaring the holy hell out of me. You better be near death, ’cause your ass just took years off my life I was really looking forward to living.”
I curled my lips between my teeth to hide my smile and keep from laughing. “Sorry. I really didn’t mean to freak you out. I wasn’t thinking.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, the action making all those big muscles flex and bulge even more. Anddayum. This view was yet another that was going to make those freaking dreams I had every night even worse.
“So what’s so damn important you came in here like your ass was on fire?”
Panic came back in full force. “Farah and the rest of the girls are throwing usan engagement party,” I stressed, gesturing wildly with my hands.
He stood there watching me, waiting for more.
I rolled my eyes and pursed my lips, blowing out a frustrated raspberry. “They emailed my parents, inviting them.”
Still nothing.
“Gage, they don’t know about any of this! The only saving grace is they’re currently on an Alaskan cruise so they won’t see it for another couple days, but if the first they hear about me being engaged is by email, they’re gonnaflip!”
He shrugged before turning on his bare feet and starting out of the entryway. “So tell them before they can get the email,” he called over his shoulder, like that was the simplest thing in the world.
I followed on his heels to the kitchen. He moved to the fridge for a beer as I stopped on the other side of the island and slapped my hands down on the counter. “You heard the part where I said Alaskan cruise, right? The service on that trip is shit. But... a party? This was Farah’s idea. You know what that means. It means she’s invited the whole town. Everyone we know is coming to this thing.” I reached up and dragged my fingers through my hair, gathering it at the nape of my neck to hold the weight for a bit before letting it tumble down again. “Honestly, we really didn’t think this through.”
His throat worked on a swallow of his beer before he slowly lowered it to the counter. Tension crackled between us as the muscles in his body grew tight and strained before my eyes.
“Are you—” His Adam’s apple worked on a hard, audible gulp. “Are you having second thoughts?” The way he looked at me, I could have sworn I saw pain in his eyes mixed with worry, like he wasn’t scared I was backing out, but that the idea actually hurt him. That look slammed right into my chest.
“What? No. Of course not. I told you. I’m in this, and I meant it, I swear. But it’s hitting me all of a sudden that we did a really shitty job of getting everything straight. When the girls came by the office this morning, they wanted to know how this”—I waved a hand between us—“happened. It’s a totally logical question. I wasn’t prepared for it so I had to give some vague explanation that was basically a non-answer answer. We should have planned for that. Now we have this party happening—a party my parents will most likely be at—and we’re going to get bombarded from all sides.”
He rounded the kitchen island and stopped in front of me. I expected him to take my arms or rest his hands on my shoulders—both moves that he’d done a million times over the years. But he surprised me when his warm, comforting palms came up to rest on either side of my neck. The way he held me felt intimate, almost seductive. I certainly didn’t hate it, that was for damn sure, and when his thumbs slid across my jawline, back and forth, back and forth, a shiver traveled through my body.
He lowered his face toward mine and my breath stalled. The only time we’d shared this kind of affection was right before he’d kissed the ever-living crap out of me, and that voice in the back of my head had come to life, chirping with excitement at the thought of being kissed like that again.
But to my utter disappointment, he didn’t kiss me. “Then we’ll prepare,” he said in a low tone meant to be reassuring, but all he was managing to do was work me up in a very big way. “We’ll consider everything our friends could ask us and come up with answers we know they’ll believe. We’ll figure it all out. Don’t worry. And as for the party...” He arched a brow and grinned down at me. That grin, coupled with the way his thumbs were still stroking my chin, made my lady parts want to stand up and sing. “When have you evernotwanted a party where you’re the focus of attention? Especially when there’s an open bar?”
Okay, so he wasn’t exactly wrong. I did love a good party. And I loved it even more if I was the center of it. One of the reasons I adored my friends so damn much was because they not only knew this about me, but they accepted it without question. Every year on my birthday, they surprised me with a big bash full of friends and loved ones from my new town.
I pinched my lips to the side in consideration. “I might not have stopped to consider that.”
